Free courage stories for kids
Tap a book to see which story is inside it.
Tap a book to see what's inside.
Or start with A Hum in the Hall| Story | Level | Kind | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Hum in the Hall | Level 2 | Peabody story | 61 |
| The Tall Thin Man | Level 4 | Peabody story | 68 |
| Ruby Goes to School | Level 5 | True story | 131 |
| Marit and the Storm Pony | Level 8 | Peabody story | 947 |
| The Run to Nome | Level 8 | True story | 572 |
| The Brave Little Tailor | Level 9 | Classic | 1,110 |
| The Steadfast Tin Soldier | Level 9 | Classic | 1,175 |
| The Bus Boycott | Level 10 | True story | 924 |
| The Deep End of Carrowglen | Level 11 | Peabody story | 1,993 |
| Hua Mulan | Level 11 | Classic | 1,817 |
| The Wild Swans | Level 11 | Classic | 1,347 |
| Alone on Harrow Rock | Level 12 | Peabody story | 1,723 |
| The Tuning Fork Door | Level 12 | Peabody story | 1,978 |
| Toomai of the Elephants | Level 13 | Classic | 1,896 |
Picking one for your child
Every story here is sorted by Peabody's reading level, which is worked out from the text and never from the child. A lower level means shorter sentences and easier words, so start where your child can read about half of a story alone and read the rest together. If it is too hard, go down a level. If they race through it, go up.
For the youngest readers
2 are at levels 2 to 4: A Hum in the Hall and The Tall Thin Man. These suit a child just learning to read, or a grown-up reading aloud.
For growing readers
5 are at levels 5 to 9: Ruby Goes to School, Marit and the Storm Pony, The Run to Nome, The Brave Little Tailor and The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Longer stories, with more going on in each one.
For confident readers
7 are at levels 10 to 13: The Bus Boycott, The Deep End of Carrowglen, Hua Mulan, The Wild Swans, Alone on Harrow Rock, The Tuning Fork Door and more. These are for children who read chapters and longer passages on their own.
Reading them together
A grown-up can read any of these aloud from a phone or tablet, one page at a time, and a child who reads can take over. Where a device can speak, the story page has a Read to me button that reads each page aloud in the device's own voice. Every story page has a Print link too, if you would rather read on paper.
More free stories
- The whole library: free stories by reading level, no account needed.
- Classic stories retold short: fables, fairy tales, myths and legends.
- Free moral stories for kids
- Free Greek myths for kids
- Free folk tales, tall tales and legends for kids
- Free mystery and adventure stories for kids
- By level: Level 2 · Level 4 · Level 5 · Level 8 · Level 9 · Level 10 · Level 11 · Level 12 · Level 13
Questions parents ask
What reading level are these brave stories?
They run across levels 2 to 13. Peabody works each level out from the story's text: how long the sentences are, how many words fit on a screen and how common the words are. The table shows the level of every story, so you can pick a lower or a higher one.
Are any of these stories scary?
None carries a mark above gentle, and none is on the scary stories shelf. The short description on each story's page says what it covers, so read it first if your child is sensitive.
Do the stories cost anything?
No. Every story on this page is free to read through the end of 2026, with no account and no card.
Teacher? Share this page to Google Classroom. Children open it with no sign-up.
Checked against how Peabody works on 19 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher. How Peabody's pages are made.